I am a journalist turned filmmaker turned bridge player. I learned the art of telling visual stories as a writer for Fortune magazine and started making documentaries a decade ago, about the same time I discovered bridge.

Aces & Knaves is a film for and about us—the millions of people who discover the game of bridge and never let it go. It’s a tale about why we’re obsessed with points, partners, and proving our mettle, told by world champions and mere mortals alike. It's about bruised egos and, yes, cheating in this high-stakes battle of brain vs. brain. We are the same team that produced the festival circuit hit, TAP OR DIE, a film about another group of passionate obsessives—contemporary tap dancers at the top of their game. We intend to make the best film ever made about bridge, one that's smart and entertaining—even for people who aren't familiar with the game. Listen to Zia Mahmood in a quick peek at the film HERE.

We have a ton of beautiful footage—chances are, we’ve even caught you on camera! Now we need your help to get the film out of our heads and into the world. Today we are launching a worldwide Indiegogo crowd-funding campaign to finish up filming and pay for all the things that will ensure that Aces & Knaves lives up to our high standards and yours—music, graphics, legal fees, sound and color correction, rights and releases, marketing, and more. Here is a link to our Indiegogo page where you can read more about the film, see photos and clips, and—best of all—join the Aces & Knaves family. We have lots of perks at many different support levels. We want you to get an early look at the film, and we want to put your name in the credits.

Aces & Knaves won’t be getting into the nitty-gritty of specific hands. We’ll leave that conversation for Bridge Winners! What we want to share with the world is the excitement and the challenge of the game and how truly smart the people are who make up the global bridge community. That’s you! It’s about the math, the logic, and the concentration required of every player, but it’s also about the roller coaster we board when we put our egos on the line. Hall of Famer Gail Greenberg says it best: “One minute you feel like a genius, and the next you wonder if you should take up finger painting instead.” Take a look at our trailer here if you haven’t already seen it.

The feature-length documentary also explores brain activity specific to elite players with neuroscientists and psychologists. We know that bridge sharpens the mind and can ward off dementia later in life. Young people are discovering the game in droves, boosting their SAT scores, and giving the game a huge dose of adrenalin. We feature some of the best of this generation and the next.

Bridge, like any other sport, requires the grit and focus to keep going even when we botch a hand. Elite players understand this on a primitive level: “If lions are out hunting and miss their prey, they’re not wondering, ‘hey, what went wrong?’ No! They go after their next prey.” So says top sports performance psychologist Jonathan Fader.

Please help us share our love of the hunt with the world and our obsession with the most complex game ever invented by the human mind. And thanks from the bottom of our hearts for your support!

This contains content that a reasonable person would consider offensive, abusive, or hate speech.

Spam

This is effectively an advertisement with no disclosure. It is not useful or relevant to the current conversation.

Other (additional description required)

This requires general moderator attention based on the Community Guidelines, Terms of Service, or for another reason not listed above.

Select a reason and click "Flag Post" to flag this for review. You may provide an optional (required if choosing other) description of why you find this objectionable. You may also wish to send a private message to to request him or her to edit or remove the .